I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 77
One of the squad members shouted. Unsurprisingly, it was Iruel who did so.
“Oh, a human recognizes me?”
Marauding in front of Rufus’s squad, the witch Odr smirked. Iruel feigned shock, trembling.
“No! According to the grimoires, witches move with the Demon King… Does that mean the Demon King is here too!”
The soldiers began to stir.
“What? The Demon King?”
“The Demon King is here?”
Iruel’s words sent the squad members into a frenzy of fear, raising their swords high. Nad, who had been boldly declaring the defeat of demons just moments ago, now shivered behind Rufus.
Rufus silently sighed, looking up at the witch Odr.
Responding with feigned rage, Rufus shouted at the witch.
“Answer me, witch! Where is the Demon King?”
“The Demon King? Oh, are you longing to see him?”
The witch Odr giggled.
“But what a pity! The Demon King is very busy right now. He’s gone to meet Prince Tarek.”
“What? What do you mean!”
“Pray, foolish human. Prince Tarek’s heart will be taken by the Demon King.”
With a flick of her finger, the witch Odr caused the ground to shake violently. Sharp spikes suddenly emerged from the earth.
“Ugh!”
The squad members stumbled as they were trapped by the spikes.
These weren’t ordinary spikes. Thicker than a finger and hard as stone, they were impassable.
“This, this is!”
Trapped in a thicket of spikes, Rufus’s squad members panicked, not knowing what to do. Watching them struggle, the witch Odr cackled.
“Ahaha! Now, try your best to escape!”
After releasing a deliberately evil laugh, the witch Odr vanished like smoke.
The spikes, growing taller than a man, were resistant to being cut by swords.
“Damn it!”
Rufus’s squad members desperately tried to hack through the spikes.
Right before their eyes, their fellow soldiers were struggling in battle with the demons. They couldn’t just stand idly by, trapped in a spiky prison.
Rufus turned his head.
“Iruel!”
“What, why are you calling me?”
Iruel, struggling to untangle his sleeve caught in the thorns, came into view.
“Iruel, you’re the lieutenant now.”
“What? Suddenly? I don’t want to!”
Iruel was startled by Rufus’s abrupt command.
“Help the other soldiers and fight the demons. But if even one of our squad members dies, it’s your head.”
“That makes me even less willing! Why are you doing this to me all of a sudden?”
Rufus, having abruptly delegated authority to Iruel, shouted.
“Squad! Follow Iruel’s orders!”
“Where are you going, Lieutenant?”
As the soldiers were hacking away at the thorns, they urgently inquired.
“The Demon King is targeting His Highness Tarek! I must go protect the prince!”
Bang!
Rufus’s sword, infused with magic, emitted a massive blade energy, disintegrating the thorns as if they were consumed by fire.
“Lieutenant!”
“Be careful, Sir Rufus!”
Other squad members called out from behind, but he didn’t look back. Rufus leaped over the thorny barrier in a single bound.
“Ah! Don’t leave me behind, Lieutenant!”
Iruel’s desperate cry echoed in Rufus’s ears, but he didn’t stop.
He ran and ran.
His destination: Prince Tarek’s tent.
The witch Odr had put on a fine performance, fitting of a witch. Her son, Iruel, was a born con artist. The squad members would believe Rufus had left to save Prince Tarek.
Nevertheless, the command he left with Iruel was serious. If even one of the squad members were to lose their life, Rufus indeed planned to hold Iruel responsible.
The squad members had to be kept alive. They would later be vital witnesses to Rufus’s loyalty.
Rufus always saved what was valuable. That was his policy.
The witch Odr had signaled to Rufus. The demons must have eliminated all of the prince’s guards by now.
It was now time to kill Prince Tarek.
The camp was still in chaos. Soldiers were frantically combating the demons.
“Sir Rufus!”
Someone urgently called his name.
Who?
Rufus involuntarily frowned.
No one in the camp should be looking for him, especially not in this chaos.
“Wait, Sir Rufus!”
Someone from behind grabbed the hem of his cloak.
Forcing himself to stop and turn around, Rufus saw a vaguely familiar woman standing there.
“You are…”
“Fertina! The medic of the Demon Subjugation Army, Fertina!”
A woman, her medic’s uniform scorched black and torn in several places, declared herself.
Hearing the name, Rufus finally remembered.
Fertina. The young medic whom Prince Tarek had once tried to humiliate while drunk.
“Miss Fertina, this place is dangerous. You must leave immediately.”
Rufus tried to usher the medic Fertina to safety. However, she refused to let go of him.
“Lieutenant Rufus, the witch just flew toward the tent where the prince is!”
“The witch?”
Despite already knowing, Rufus feigned surprise.
Fertina pleaded with him.
“The witch might kill the prince! We have to stop her!”
Rufus stared down at the medic Fertina, gripping his arm.
—Wouldn’t it be better if he died?
He almost retorted. Just barely holding back.
Did this woman understand what she was saying? She was asking him to help the prince who had mocked and humiliated her. And yet, she implored him to save that very prince.
